Fears of an increasingly monotonous countryside grow as a new report highlights the catastrophic decline of Britain's mammals

Red squirrels could be extinct on mainland Britain within 20 years, with
hedgehogs and mountain hares suffering a similarly catastrophic decline,
according to a new review of the plight of Britain’s mammals.

The report, by Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit
(WildCru), warns that mammals are being hit hard by the intensification of
farming and other human activity.

The destruction of habitat is affecting not just animals but the rural economy
too, because it creates a monotonous countryside devoid of wildlife that
discourages the walkers, bird-watchers and other recreational users whose
spending is the key to rural prosperity.

Perhaps the starkest example of recent decline is that of the hedgehog, whose
numbers have fallen from more than 30m in the 1950s to well under 1m now.
This is because of pesticides and the destruction of the hedgerows and rough
land on which they depend. Dormice and harvest mice have also